What They Deserved
by wolfbones17
Summary: A semi-rewrite of hour 8 am to 9am. Rated T for some language.
1. Chapter 1

_Writer's Note: I'm sure I'm not the only one disappointed by the ending of tonight's 24 episode. I hope to be proven wrong, but I currently feel that killing Renee off was unnecessary and really kind of cruel. And like so often happens, I got pissed off. And my outage fueled my inspiration. And so I mentally trashed what I thought the writers of 24 did wrong, and rewrote it. Here is the outcome of that anger and that inspiration. Please forgive any errors, especially those of a medical nature; I'm not a doctor, I'm not pretending to be a doctor, and the medical procedures, etc. are not my focus right now; as such, I've tried to limit my description of medical processes so not to butcher the medical profession, hospital procedures, or anything else - too badly. ;) This story is intended to have two parts at the least; I'm not sure if, when, or how it will it be extended, but if you guys like it and I feel it can go further I will certainly try to continue it._

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Jack closed the flip-phone and slid into a chair, heavily shaken. It sounded like Renee had a strong suspicion who killed their prisoner. It looked like some bastard had gotten the strong suspicion first, judging by the sniper that had so quickly found them and set up to take them out. To take _her_ out.

"Mr. Bauer?"

Jack got to his feet immediately, aiming a fierce, yet upset look at the middle-aged doctor. "Yeah?"

"Renee Walker's condition is bad, but stable. We believe her chances of survival are good. You can see her now, but we need to keep it brief."

He followed the doctor down the hall. "Is she awake?"

"Not yet. The anesthetics are still active in her system; she won't be awake for a while." The doctor pushed open the door to Renee's hospital room.

Jack stared from the doorway for a long moment, swallowing hard. He knew there was a phone call he needed to make. He needed to call Chloe to get a team down to the hospital to set up a guard around Renee. He needed to get security measures in place to make sure no one knew she survived the sniper's shot. He needed to…

He heaved a sigh and looked down to hide the pained expression and the teary eyes. Yes, he needed to do all that and more. But first, he needed a moment…just one more moment with the woman he…that he had to admit he had come to love.

He stepped into the room and walked slowly to Renee's bedside. The pale cream hospital blankets were tucked neatly up to her waist, and she looked somber as she slept. A hospital gown covered the heavy bandaging Jack knew was bound tightly beneath her breasts, over the deadly shot that had nearly taken her life…that still might.

Jack slipped his hand over hers, which laid, folded, over her waist. His eyes searched her face. She looked neither pained, nor happy…she had a sort of somberness about her. If she were awake, she'd probably say, "Well hell, Jack, I got shot. Go figures."

He frowned. No, that sounded like something he would say to her, were the places switched. (Oh, how he wished they were.) If Renee were awake, she'd skip any conversation about herself and get straight to the point: "Jack, this is the man who tried to kill me. Jack, that is where I think he is now. Jack, this is what I know about him. Now go catch the bad guy."

He huffed a small, throaty laugh and leaned over to kiss Renee's forehead with fear and grief piling in his heart.

He hadn't even known Renee when he knew she was someone he'd never be likely to forget.

He'd only known her half a day when he knew he could trust her explicitly

He'd known her for just one day and several hours when he realized he loved her. Maybe not chin-in, head-over-heels blindly in love with her, but he loved her enough, and a lot more than he had anyone else at only two days – _less_ than two days.

He released her hands regretfully. At least he would have the chance to fall head-over-heels in love with her. She was alive. Jack turned on his heel and stormed from the room, his phone at his ear with CTU on the line. He would make damn sure she stayed that way.


	2. Chapter 2

One Day Later

Jack propped himself up on his arm and watched her with gratefulness still bursting from every inch of his body. She, Renee Walker, slept peacefully on the hospital bed. The doctors were far more sure now of her predicted recovery, than they were at the time he came flying into the ER with her bleeding in his arms.

He wasn't sure he believed in God, but he thanked him anyway, over and over. For once, everything he absolutely needed to go right – his security around Renee – went right. There was a second attempt on Renee's life, but it had been intercepted swiftly and without further danger to her life. Maybe it was the fact that he would've flayed anyone who failed to protect her that made them so damn vigilant. Maybe they were just that good. Jack didn't know and didn't care which, but he mentally filed a reminder to thank every person on Renee's security team anyway. He exhaled a deep and silent sigh. Later.

Movement caught his attention; her eyes began to flutter, and then they opened to reveal her hazy, blue-green eyes. Those eyes wandered for but a second before they landed on him, and she half-smiled, too tired or too shaken to complete the smile.

Jack tried to hide all residual worry from his expression and he smiled back. :"Hey," he said softly. He reached out to touch her cheek.

"He–" Her croaky response was cut off by a cough. She finished in a whisper, "Didn't you promise me something about a drink?"

His memory flashed back to the blissful moments before the shot, and he chuckled in spite of the dark moments that followed. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I did. Hold on..." He gave her cheek a caress as he left her side. He found a nurse in the hall and asked her to bring something to soothe the newly-awakened patient's throat. He returned to her side, then, and they just stared at each other, watching volumes of emotions play off each other's face. Their expressions communicated a wordless, perfect story.

The nurse's footsteps broke the spell, and Jack took the cup she handed him. "Well, it's not a drink," he said, "but it's ice chips; they should feel good. You still want them?" Renee nodded and, though she could have done it herself, let him spoon-feed her while the nurse scribbled some notes down on a clipboard.

"I'm going to page Dr. Mendel," the nurse told them. She gave them a brief nod as she excused herself, and left the room briskly in her sensible, no-nonsense sneakers.

The chips melted in the cup to a frosty water before Renee could finish them, and Jack handed the cup over so she could down the last bit. "One day…" he began. She met his eyes over the rim of the Styrofoam. "…One day, we will have just one day without one of us getting shot at…"

"Stabbed," she contributed, her eyes falling to the side of his torso.

"Buried alive."

"Chased after."

"Held hostage."

"Or infected with rare and deadly diseases," he finished. They shared a wry grin.

Renee's head fell back against the pillow and she sighed deeply, a wince crossing her face as her hand ghost-swept across her torso. Jack reached over to stroke his fingers through her hair. "You want me to get the nurse back here to give you some more painkillers?"

They both knew painkillers would knock her out for a while. She smiled again, this time a fuller, softer smile. "In a minute…" she said lazily. There was a pointed undertone to her reply.

Jack returned her smile with breathless amazement, and leaned over to kiss first her head, then her cheek, and finally, softly, her lips.

For once, what he needed to go right went exactly right.

For once, he didn't feel like he was cursed to bring doom to everyone he cared about.

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_Writer's Note: Reviews are definitely appreciated. This is my first 24 fic, so feedback concerning particularly with how I wrote the characters would be wonderful; I hate getting characters dramatically out-of-character. :) Like I said, I don't know if this will go anywhere else, but if the inspiration itches at me again, I'll continue it. Thanks a mill. :) _

_-wolfbones_


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